Related video above: Tourist crashes drone into historic Roman building

Just when you thought the summer of tourists behaving badly was over, another person on vacation wrecks another priceless artifact.

This time it's the turn of an American tourist who smashed no fewer than two ancient Roman sculptures into pieces at the Vatican on Wednesday.

The episode took place in the Museo Chiaramonti, part of the Vatican Museums, around lunchtime. The space holds around 1,000 works of ancient statuary, and describes itself as "one of the finest collections of Roman portraits" in the world.

Two of those portraits are now facing an uncertain future after the tourist knocked over one in anger, then toppled another as he fled the scene.

The man had demanded to see the pope, according to newspaper Il Messaggero. When he was told he couldn't, he allegedly hurled one Roman bust to the floor.

As he ran off, with staff in pursuit, he knocked down another.

The two works of art have been taken to the in-house workshop to be assessed. While around 2,000 years old, they are thought to be secondary works of art, rather than famous works, a source told Il Messaggero.

Director of the Press Office for Vatican Museums Matteo Alessandrini told CNN that the American man, around 50 years old, was in the "Galleria Chiaramonte" corridor, which houses around 100 busts and statues.

"The busts were affixed to shelves with a nail but if you pull them down with force they will come off," he said. "He pulled down one and then the other and the guards came immediately and stopped him and consigned him to the Vatican police who brought him in for questioning. Around 5:30 p.m. he was handed over to the Italian authorities.

"The 2 busts have been damaged but not particularly badly. One lost part of a nose and an ear, the head of the other came off the pedestal."

He said that restoration work had already begun, and that "they will soon be restored and back at the Museum."

Mountain Butorac, who leads pilgrimages to the Vatican and who often visits the Museo Chiaramonti, said: "One of the beautiful things is that it allows the visitors to get literally face to face with these ancient sculptures. My fear is that with behavior like this, barriers could be put in place."

Tourists damaging monuments has been a theme of this summer in Rome. In July, a Canadian tourist was caught carving her name into the Colosseum, while American tourists were caught hurling scooters down the Spanish Steps, breaking off pieces in the process, and a Saudi visitor drove his Maserati down the same architectural icon.

Italy football great Gianluca Vialli has died aged 58 after what he described as his "journey" with an "unwelcome travel companion" -- pancreatic cancer.

Vialli announced in December that he was stepping away from his role with the Italian national federation for health reasons after consultation with his oncologists.

Vialli had publicly struggled with cancer for years. He first announced that he'd been treated in 2018 but said he was 'very well' in an interview with an Italian newspaper. Another bout with the disease swiftly followed in 2019, before his former team Chelsea announced he'd been 'given the all-clear' in 2020. Last year, the former footballer announced the disease had returned.

Vialli played for Italian clubs Sampdoria and Juventus and English Premier League team Chelsea and earned 59 caps for Italy. He was part of the Italy side which finished in third place at the 1990 World Cup.

Following brief managerial stints at Chelsea and Watford, Vialli was part of the backroom staff for the Italy national side, alongside his former Sampdoria teammate Roberto Mancini, and together won Euro 2020.

After the final in which Italy beat England on penalties, Italy defender Alessandro Florenzi paid his tributes to Vialli.

"Everybody needs to know this. We have among us an example that teaches us how to live, in any moment, in any situation," Florenzi said, per ESPN.

"And I'm talking about Gianluca Vialli, For us, he's special. Without him, and without Mancini and the other coaches, this victory would mean nothing. He is a living example. I know he'll get angry, but I just had to say it."

Having started his club career at Cremonese in 1980 in Italy's lower leagues, Vialli got his big break in 1984 when he joined Sampdoria.

Together with Mancini -- they earned the nickname "I Gemelli del Gol" or "the goal twins" -- the two forwards ushered in the club's most successful period in its history.

Vialli said in a 2019 interview on Sky Sports that the pair's relationship worked so well on the pitch because they "liked each other as human beings."

"We were different, but we were getting on extremely well," Vialli told Sky Sports, "which helps a lot, I think.

"And then on the pitch, we were very complementary... when you've got two strikers who don't care whether the other striker is scoring three and you're not scoring any, it's fantastic because the only thing that we wanted was for the team to win."

Vialli finished as top scorer for the Sampdoria side which won their first ever Serie A title in 1991, also winning the Italian Cup three times and finishing runner-up in the European Cup in 1992 to Barcelona.

Vialli then moved to Italian giants Juventus in 1992 for what was then a world record fee of £12 million ($14.57 million).

During his four seasons with the Turin-based club, Vialli enjoyed more success, winning the Serie A title again, as well as the Champions League and the UEFA Cup.

He still remains the last Juventus captain to lift the Champions League trophy, something he said means a lot to him personally.

"For me, it's very important to be the last captain of Juventus to have lifted the Champions League because all the fans still remember that, I still remember that and they see me as the last captain of a very successful Italian side in Europe," Vialli told Sky Sports in 2015 ahead of the Champions League final between Juventus and Barcelona.

"On the one hand, I want Juventus to win because I've got so many friends there. But on the other hand, it would be annoying to see someone taking my place.

"Having said that, to have my picture lifting the cup next to Gaetano Scirea -- a legendary Juventus defender, probably one of the best Italian defenders of all time -- and Gianluigi Buffon, it will be like having your painting hanging next to a Picasso and a Van Gogh."

Vialli left for Chelsea in 1996, winning the FA Cup in his first season in England before being appointed player-manager in the following season.

Vialli retired from professional football in 1999 to focus on his role as a full-time manager. As a manager at Chelsea, he won the FA Cup and the League Cup before being fired in 2000.

A brief stint as Watford manager followed before he spent many years as a football pundit and analyst.

In 2018, Vialli revealed he was "fine" after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Following his initial cancer diagnosis, Vialli said that he felt a sense of "shame" because of the illness, adding that he would wear a sweater under his shirt so no one would notice his changing physique.

He called cancer "an unwelcome travel companion" in his book, 'Goals: Inspirational Stories to Help Tackle Life's Challenges.' "I don't see this as a battle," he wrote.

"I am not a warrior. I am not fighting cancer: it's too strong an enemy and I would not stand a chance. I am a man who is on a journey and cancer has joined me on that journey... my goal is to keep walking, keep moving until he's had enough and leaves me alone."

In 2020, Vialli was given the all-clear following a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, according to an announcement from his former team, Chelsea.

At the time, Vialli spoke about the struggles he went through.

"Regaining my health means seeing myself in the mirror again, seeing the hair grow, not having to draw eyebrows on with a pencil," he said. "It can appear strange in this moment (of the pandemic), compared to many others I feel very fortunate."

In 2021, he said that he was battling pancreatic cancer once again after it had returned, stepping away from his role with the Italian national federation in December 2022 upon the advice from medical experts.

Raquel Welch, an actress of television, film and stage, has died. The well-known model and entertainer was 82.

Welch was known for her roles in films like 1966's "Fantastic Voyage."

Her death was confirmed to Scripps News by one of her representatives who said, "Her career spanned over 50 years starring in over 30 films and 50 television series and appearances. The Golden Globe winner, in more recent years, was involved in a very successful line of wigs."

The representative said, "Raquel Welch, the legendary bombshell actress of film, television and stage, passed away peacefully early this morning after a brief illness."

Born on Sept. 5, 1940 in Chicago she moved to San Diego when she was a young child.

She studied theater arts at San Diego State College in 1958.

She became well-known after another role in 1966 on the film "One Million Years B.C."

She launched businesses selling wigs and a line of deerskin bikinis all turning her into a star of the 1960s and 1970s.

Welch went on to star in other roles like in the film "A House Is Not A Home" and an Elvis Presley musical titled "Roustabout."

A representative for the actress and model said, "Raquel leaves behind her two children, son Damon Welch and her daughter, Tahnee Welch,"

Milan fashion week continued in Italy amid the turmoil caused for Ukrainians in the fashion world and their families back home in Ukraine after Russia invaded the country.

As Agence France-Presse reported, Italian designers like Prada and Moschino, and others like Paris-based MM6 Maison Margiela showed their best looks on the runway. With the grandeur and elegance came mixed energy, as not that far away, a major conflict in Europe is also happening.

AFP spoke to 22-year-old Ukrainian creative director and stylist Anna Mazzhyk who said before the show she was woken up by her parents early in the morning in Ukraine who told her, "Russia is attacking Ukraine right now," she said.

"I was crying before the first show because it's difficult for me," said Mazzhyk. She is from Kyiv. She said, "We're all wearing sunglasses to cover up our puffy eyes."

Louise Robert, a model from Belgium, told AFP, "It was like a bomb -- an emotional bomb."

Ukrainian staff who work booking the models were shaken and upset backstage at the Prada show. And, a French photographer named, "Etienne," said "I think most people are crushed." Going on to say, "But we can't do politics inside here."

ROME (AP) — Italy, Spain and other European countries are reinstating or stiffening mask mandates as their hospitals struggle with mounting numbers of COVID-19 patients.

Other nations like the Netherlands are considering introducing masking rules.

The use of more protective FFP2 masks in Italy is also seen as a way to keep businesses running and public services provided.

The Italian government says vaccinated people who had contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus can avoid quarantine as long as they wear an FFP2 mask when in public for 10 days.

On Christmas Eve, the country announced that FFP2 masks must be worn on public transport, including planes, trains, ferries, and subways, the Associated Press reported.

They must also be worn at theaters, cinemas and sports events, indoors or out, and can’t be removed when eating or drinking, the news outlet reported.

These strategies sharply contrast with those of Britain whose government has emphasized vaccination and where mask-wearing dropped off markedly last year.

In Spain, they reinstated its outdoor mask rule on Christmas Eve, the AP reported.

In Portugal, they restored its mask mandate back at the end of November.

In Greece, they brought back its outdoor mask mandate, while also requiring everyone to wear an FFP2 mask on public transport and in indoor public spaces.

Harrison Ford lost his credit card during a stay in a beach town near Palermo, Sicily, but got it back thanks to a German tourist, police in Sicily said Saturday.The tourist found a credit card with Ford’s name emblazoned on it Thursday, and turned it in to the local police station in the beach town of Mondello. Officers tracked the actor down and returned the card, police said. It wasn’t clear if the actor was aware that the card had been missing.Italian media published a photo of the smiling actor wearing a T-shirt and what appears to be bathing trunks, holding the card up for the camera alongside two officers and the local commander.Mondello, separated from Palermo by a the 700-meter (2,300-foot) tall Montepellegrino, is known for its long sandy beach and Liberty style villas.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine unveiled a new way of looking at the coronavirus pandemic Thursday afternoon called the Public Health Advisory Alert System. The idea of the project is to help local health departments and Ohio residents get a better idea of where the virus is spreading.

The system is color-coded and shows which counties are doing better than others in containing the spread of COVID-19. Currently, Hamilton County is coded as red.

“It might be a surprise for people in that community,” DeWine said. “To say, ‘Okay, we’re red.’”

Colors are coordinated based on seven indicators, including hospitalizations and new cases of COVID-19, among others.

“It informs us, not just to put orders on where we restrict something,” DeWine said. “It informs us to be able to surge in for more resources, to try to turn the tide."

So what do the different color codes mean to residents?

Level 1: Yellow – Spread of the virus is limited. Typically, many rural counties are coded yellow.
Level 2: Orange – There’s an increased risk or exposure or spread. Orange counties have shown an increase in COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks.
Level 3: Red – People should limit activities as much as possible, and the governor asks that you wear a mask when in proximity to others.
Level 4: Purple - No Ohio counties are yet in level four, or purple, which suggests people should only leave home for supplies and services.

Hamilton and Butler Counties are currently coded as red.

“It indicates we can do better,” Hamilton County Medical Director Dr. Steve Feagins said. “We can use more masks. We can be cognizant of social distancing.”

Feagins said that, while Hamilton County is at the red level, residents should know, they’re on the low end of that scale.

“While we’re increasing at a bit of a faster rate, we’re still at a lower level of hospitals,” Feagins said.

DeWine said the new data will be used more effectively at the local level.

“It’s giving mayors and community members more information,” he said. “So they can make decisions. But it doesn’t mean that I’m not engaged. It doesn’t mean that I won’t in the future will make decisions,

He said people can use the map as a reference – to know in what parts of the state they should use more caution.

“We’re not going to be Florida,” DeWine said. “We’re not going to be Texas. We’re not going to be Italy. We’re not going to let this happen. This is a long battle. We won round one, maybe round two, but this is a 15-round heavyweight championship, and we have to stay in there and stay punching.”

BOLOGNA, Italy —

For more than seven decades, Martin Adler treasured a back-and-white photo of himself as a young American soldier with a broad smile with three impeccably dressed Italian children he is credited with saving as the Nazis retreated northward in 1944.

On Monday, the 97-year-old World War II veteran met the three siblings — now octogenarians themselves — in person for the first time since the war.

Adler held out his hand to grasp those of Bruno, Mafalda and Giuliana Naldi for the joyful reunion at Bologna's airport after a 20-hour journey from Boca Raton, Florida. Then, just as he did as a 20-year-old soldier in their village of Monterenzio, he handed out bars of American chocolate.

"Look at my smile," Adler said of the long-awaited in-person reunion, made possible by the reach of social media.

It was a happy ending to a story that could easily have been a tragedy.

The very first time the soldier and the children saw each other, in 1944, the three faces peeked out of a huge wicker basket where their mother had hidden them as soldiers approached. Adler thought the house was empty, so he trained his machine gun on the basket when he heard a sound, thinking a German soldier was hiding inside.

"The mother, Mamma, came out and stood right in front of my gun to stop me (from) shooting," Adler recalled. "She put her stomach right against my gun, yelling, 'Bambinis! Bambinis! Bambinis!' pounding my chest," Adler recalled.

"That was a real hero, the mother, not me. The mother was a real hero. Can you imagine you standing yourself in front of a gun and screaming 'Children! No!'" he said.

Adler still trembles when he remembers that he was only seconds away from opening fire on the basket. And after all these decades, he still suffers nightmares from the war, said his daughter, Rachelle Donley.

The children, aged 3 to 6 when they met, were a happy memory. His company stayed on in the village for a while and he would come by and play with them.

Giuliana Naldi, the youngest, is the only one of the three with any recollection of the event. She recalls climbing out of the basket and seeing Adler and another U.S. soldier, who has since died.

"They were laughing," Naldi, now 80, remembers. "They were happy they didn't shoot."

She, on the other hand, didn't quite comprehend the close call.

"We weren't afraid for anything," she said.

She also remembers the soldier's chocolate, which came in a blue and white wrapper.

"We ate so much of that chocolate,'' she laughed.

Donley decided during the COVID-19 lockdown to use social media to try to track down the children in the old black-and-white photo, starting with veterans' groups in North America.

Eventually the photo was spotted by an Italian journalist who had written a book on World War II. He was able to track down Adler's regiment and where it had been stationed from a small detail in another photograph. The smiling photo was then published in a local newspaper, leading to the discovery of the identities of the three children, who by then were grandparents themselves.

They shared a video reunion in December, and waited until the easing of pandemic travel rules made the trans-Atlantic trip possible.

"I am so happy and so proud of him. Because things could have been so different in just a second. Because he hesitated, there have been generations of people," Donley said.

The serendipity isn't lost on Giuliana Naldi's 30-year-old granddaughter, Roberta Fontana, one of six children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren who descended from the three children hidden in the wicker basket.

"Knowing that Martin could have shot and that none of my family would exist is something very big," Fontana said. "It is very emotional."

During his stay in Italy, Adler will spend some time in the village where he was stationed, before traveling on to Florence, Naples and Rome, where he hopes to meet Pope Francis.

"My dad really wants to meet the pope," Donley said. "He wants to share his message of peace and love. My dad is all about peace."

The Milan fashion house Dolce&Gabbana has filed a multimillion-dollar defamation suit in an Italian court against U.S. fashion bloggers who reposted anti-Asian comments attributed to one of the designers that led to a boycott by Asian consumers.

The suit was filed in Milan civil court in 2019, but only became public this week when the bloggers posted about it on their Instagram account, Diet Prada. Their feed is widely followed in the fashion world for its cutting commentary on unoriginality in designs and on social issues.

“This whole case is a way of trying to silence Diet Prada, and to silence Tony (Liu) and Lindsay (Schuyler) personally,’’ said Susan Scafidi, director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School, which is coordinating the bloggers' defense.

Lawyers for Dolce&Gabbana reached by the AP declined to comment on the case.

The case dates back to November 2018, when Dolce&Gabbana faced a boycott in Asia after outrage over what were seen as culturally insensitive videos promoting a major runway show in Shanghai and subsequent posts of insulting comments in a private Instagram chat.

The show was canceled in the backlash, which included retailers pulling Dolce&Gabbana merchandise and Asian VIPs disavowing the brand.

Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana initially said that Gabbana’s account had been hacked. The two later appeared in a video apologizing to the Chinese people.

“A public apology and a quiet lawsuit really cancel each other out in my mind,’’ Safidi told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Italian defense attorneys filed a brief this week in Milan civil court, arguing that Italy is not the correct venue for the case, given that the blog is produced in the United States and the alleged damages occurred in Asia.

File video: Dolce&Gabbana receives backlash after ad campaign

The fashion house is seeking damages totaling more than half a billion euros, Scafidi said.

She said the fashion house is seeking 450 million euros spent to restore brand image since 2018 and damages of 3 million euros for the company and 1 million for Gabbana, to whom the remarks were attributed. The suit also seeks more than 8.6 million euros for the cancellation of the Shanghai show, another 8.6 million euros for staff expenditures and 89.6 million euros for lost Asian sales from November 2018-March 2019.

Since going public, Diet Prada, which has over 2.5 million Instagram followers, has raised more than $38,000 for its defense.

In a statement, Liu and Schuyler both said they would not allow their platform, which has also been vocal about the #MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter and recent attacks on Asians in the United States, to be silenced by lawsuits.

“Diet Prada will continue to be a platform to elevate these crucial issues,” Liu said.

Schuyler called on “public figures and brands to respond to public opinion and media critiques with progressive action, not lawsuits."

STRESA, Italy —

The investigation into Italy's cable car disaster that killed 14 people will focus on why the lead cable snapped and why the emergency brake didn't engage and prevent the cabin from careening back down the mountain until it pulled off the support line and crashed to the ground, the lead prosecutor said Monday.

Verbania Prosecutor Olimpia Bossi outlined the contours of her investigation based on what she said was objective, empirical fact of what occurred: "The brakes of the security system didn't work. Otherwise the cabin would have stopped," she said. "Why that happened is naturally under investigation."

Bossi spoke to reporters as the lone survivor of Sunday's horrific tragedy, a 5-year-old Israeli boy living in Italy, remained hospitalized in Turin in intensive care with multiple broken bones.

The Israeli foreign ministry identified him as Eitan Biran. His parents, younger brother and two great-grandparents were among the dead, the ministry said, correcting an earlier statement that had included Eitan among the victims.

Italian media identified all the other victims as residents of Italy.

The disaster, in one of the most picturesque spots in northern Italy — the Mottarone mountaintop overlooking Lake Maggiore and other lakes near Switzerland — raised questions anew about the quality and safety of Italy’s transport infrastructure.

Transport Minister Enrico Giovannini visited the site Monday and announced a commission of inquiry to investigate the "technical and organizational causes" of the disaster, while prosecutors will focus on any criminal blame.

Giovannini told reporters in Stresa, the lakefront town at the foot of the Mottarone peak, that the aim of the investigative commission would be to "ensure this never happens again."

The transport ministry said a preliminary check of the cable line’s safety and maintenance record show that the whole lift structure underwent a renovation in August 2016, and that a full maintenance check was performed in 2017 and more inspections last year.

In November and December 2020, other checks were performed on the cables themselves, including magnetic inspections on the primary cables of the lift: the cable that pulls the cabin up the mountain, the support cable that holds the car and the rescue cables. In December another visual check was performed, the ministry said.

The mayor of Stresa, Marcella Severino, quoted witnesses as saying they heard a "loud hiss," apparently when the lead cable snapped. She said the cabin reeled back down the line until it apparently hit a pylon and then plummeted to the ground. It rolled over two or three times before crashing into trees, she said.

Some of the bodies were thrown from the car and were found amid the trees, rescue workers said.

In on-camera comments to LaPresse news agency and other reporters in her office, Bossi noted that the emergency brake had engaged on the other cable car that was traveling in the opposite direction, down the mountain.

She said the possible crimes that are being investigated are multiple manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and an "attack on public transport." She acknowledged the transport crime was an unusual hypothesis, but justified it by recalling that a cable car up and down a mountain is a form of public transportation.

The funicular line is popular with tourists and locals alike to scale Mottarone, which reaches a height of 1,491 meters (4,900 feet) and overlooks several picturesque lakes and the surrounding Alps of Italy’s Piedmont region. The mountain hosts a small amusement park, Alpyland, that has a children’s rollercoaster, and the area also has mountain bike paths and hiking trails.

It only reopened a few weeks ago after Italy’s wintertime coronavirus lockdowns lifted, and officials hypothesized that families were taking advantage of a sunny Sunday to visit the peak and take in the view.

The mayor declared a day of mourning for Stresa, which like tourist destinations around the country had suffered from COVID-19 lockdowns that not only slashed foreign tourism but cut local day-trip visits by Italians.

The Israeli foreign ministry identified the five Israelis killed as Eitan's parents, Amit Biran and Tal Peleg-Biran, an Israeli-born couple studying and working in Pavia. Biran’s Facebook page identifies him as a medical student at the University of Pavia.

Their 2-year-old son, Tom Biran, died at the scene, as were Peleg-Biran’s grandparents, Barbara and Yitzhak Cohen. The ministry said they had arrived in Italy on May 19 to visit their granddaughter and great-grandchildren.

Amit Biran’s sister, Aya, wasn't involved in the crash and was at the bedside of Eitan at Turin’s Regina Margherita hospital, the foreign ministry said, adding that other family members were flying to Italy from Israel to join her.

In a tweet Tuesday, Italy's national firefighting squad said they were cheering for Eitan even as they mourned the others: "Forza Eitan (Go Eitan), all the firefighters are with you."

The head of intensive care at the Turin hospital, Dr. Giorgio Ivani, said Eitan was sedated and intubated after surgery to repair his broken bones. An MRI scan was planned for Monday to assess any brain injury, though hospital officials have noted that he was conscious when he arrived.

Among the other victims were an Italian researcher, Serena Consentino, and her Iranian-born companion, Mohammadreza Shahaisavandi, according to a statement from Italy’s National Council of Research, where Consentino had a research grant.

Also killed at the scene were Vittorio Zorloni and his wife, Elisabetta Persanini. Their 6-year-old son, Mattia, died at Regina Margherita after multiple efforts to restart his heart, hospital officials said.

A young couple, Silvia Malnati and Alessandro Merlo, were killed while Malnati’s brother stayed down in town and frantically tried to call her, Italy’s La Stampa newspaper reported, quoting the brother.

Another couple, Roberta Pistolato and Angelo Vito Gasparro were celebrating Gasparro’s 45th birthday. La Stampa said Roberta texted her sister in Puglia right before the tragedy: "We’re going up in the funicular. It’s paradise here."

___

Nicole Winfield reported from Rome. AP reporter Laurie Kellman contributed from Jerusalem.

ROME, Italy —

A jury in Rome on Wednesday convicted two American friends in the 2019 slaying of a police officer in a drug sting gone awry, sentencing them to life in prison.

The jury deliberated for more than 12 hours before delivering the verdicts against Finnegan Lee Elder, 21, and Gabriel Natale Hjorth, 20, handing them Italy’s stiffest sentence.

Elder and Natale-Hjorth were indicted on charges of homicide, attempted extortion, assault, resisting a public official and carrying an attack-style knife without just cause.

The defendants were led immediately out of the courtroom.

The slain officer’s widow, who held a photo of her dead husband while waiting for the verdict, sobbed and hugged his brother, Paolo.

This is a breaking news update. Earlier story follows below.

A jury in Rome on Wednesday began deliberating the fates of two young American men who are charged with killing an Italian police officer near the hotel where they were staying while on summer vacation in 2019.

Finnegan Lee Elder, 21, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 20, were indicted on charges of homicide, attempted extortion, assault, resisting a public official and carrying an attack-style knife without just cause. They face possible life in prison, Italy's maximum sentence.

The jury entered the ninth hour of deliberations with no indication from the court if they were nearing a verdict. Judge Marina Finiti indicated the verdicts could come later Wednesday or even Thursday.

Prosecutors alleged that Elder stabbed Vice Bridgadier Mario Cerciello Rega 11 times with a knife he brought with him on his trip to Europe from California and that Natale-Hjorth helped him hide the knife in their hotel room.

The July 26, 2019 slaying of the officer from the storied Carabinieri paramilitary police corps shocked Italy. Cerciello Rega, 35, was mourned as a national hero. His widow, brother and partner were in the courtroom as the jury went into deliberations.

The two Californians on trial were allowed out of steel-barred defendant cages inside the courtroom to sit with their lawyers before the case went to the jury, which consists of presiding judge Finiti, a second judge and six civilian jurors.

"I'm stressed," Elder said to one of his lawyers. Just before the brief court appearance, Elder took a crucifix he wears on a chain around his neck and kissed it. He also turned to his codefendant, Natale-Hjorth, and held out the crucifix toward him through a glass partition, motioning heavenward.

Elder was joined in the courtroom by his parents. He and his father crossed their fingers toward each other for good luck after the jury went to deliberate. Natale-Hjorth was greeted by his Italian uncle, who lives in Italy.

Cerciello Rega had recently returned from a honeymoon when he was assigned along with a plainclothes police partner, officer Andrea Varriale, to follow up on a reported extortion attempt.

Prosecutors contend the young Americans concocted a plot involving a stolen bag and cellphone after their failed attempt to buy cocaine with 80 euros ($96) in Rome's Trastevere nightlife district. Natale-Hjorth and Elder testified they had paid for the cocaine but didn't receive it.

Both defendants contended they acted in self-defense.

During the trial, which began on Feb. 26, 2020, the Americans told the court they thought that Cerciello Rega and Varriale were thugs or mobsters out to assault them on a dark, deserted street. The officers wore casual summer clothes and not uniforms, and the defendants insisted the officers never showed police badges.

Under Italian law, an accomplice in an alleged murder can also be charged with murder even without materially doing the slaying. Prosecutor Maria Sabina Calabretta has demanded life imprisonment for both defendants.

Varriale, who suffered a back injury in a scuffle with Natale-Hjorth while his partner was grappling with Elder, testified that the officers did identify themselves as Carabinieri.

At the time of the slaying, Elder was 19 and traveling through Europe without his family, while Natale-Hjorth, then 18, was spending the summer vacation with his Italian grandparents, who live near Rome. Former schoolmates from the San Francisco Bay area, the two had met up in Rome for what was supposed to be couple of days of sightseeing and nights out.

Prosecutors alleged that Elder thrust a seven-inch (18-centimeter) military-style attack knife repeatedly into Cerciello Rega, who bled profusely, like a "fountain," Varriale had testified, and died shortly after in hospital.

Elder told the court that the heavy-set Cerciello Rega, scuffling with him, was on top of him on the ground, and he feared that he was being strangled. Elder said he pulled out the knife and stabbed him to avoid being killed, and when the officer didn't immediately let him go, he stabbed again.

After the stabbing, the Americans ran to their hotel room, where, according to Natale-Hjorth, Elder cleaned the knife and then asked him to hide it. Natale-Hjorth testified that he hid the knife behind a ceiling panel in their room, where it was discovered hours later by police.

The defendants had told the court that several hours before the stabbing, they attempted to buy cocaine in the Trastevere nightlife district of Rome. With the intervention of a go-between, they paid a dealer, but instead of cocaine they received an aspirin-like tablet.

Before Natale-Hjorth could confront the dealer, a separate Carabinieri patrol in the neighborhood intervened, and all scattered. The Americans snatched the go-between's knapsack in reprisal, and used a cellphone that was inside to set up a meeting with the goal of exchanging the bag and the phone for the cash they had lost in the bad drug deal.

Meanwhile, Cerciello Rega, wearing a T-shirt and long shorts, and Varriale, in a polo shirt and jeans, headed out to follow up on what was described as a small-scale extortion attempt. They didn't carry their service pistols.

From practically its start, the trial largely boiled down to the word of Varriale against that of the young American visitors. The victim's widow, Rosa Maria Esilio, would sit in the front row, often clutching a photo of her husband. Photos of the newlyweds, with Cerciello Rega in his dress uniform, after their wedding, were widely displayed in Italian media after the slaying.

As the trial neared its end, one of Elder's defense lawyers, Renato Borzone, argued in court that deep-set psychiatric problems, including a constant fear of being attacked, figured in the fatal stabbing. Borzone told the court his client saw a world filled with enemies due to psychiatric problems and that something "short-circuited" when Elder was confronted by the officer.